Houston Hoops Blue Chips Win HYPE Sports Winter Jam

DALLAS, TX — The HYPE Sports Winter Jam has become a fixture on my calendar for the last several years thanks in part to the impressive amount of star power consistently delivered by the Lone Star State. This year’s event was highlighted by the Houston Hoops Blue Chips, as they proved that they belong at the top of the list among the Class of 2024 teams in the South region.

Coached by Christian Begg, a longtime fixture in the Houston Hoops organization, the HHBC 8th-grade group blazed through pool play at Winter Jam, averaging 74 points per game with a running clock, while only surrendering an astonishing 33 points in two games.

Taking advantage of a first-round bye, HHBC then advanced past BTR Blue (Oklahoma) 57-31 in the quarterfinals and escaped ProSkills (Texas) 43-40 in their closest and lowest-scoring game of the tournament. They finished out their championship weekend with a dominant victory against Team Griffin (Oklahoma) by the score of 59-41. 

The 2020 HYPE Sports Winter Jam Platinum champs absolutely deserve top-five consideration nationally to begin the year and should be rewarded such when I release my team rankings at the end of the month. Additionally, Drive Nation (Texas) and the aforementioned Pro Skills (Texas) and Team Griffin (Oklahoma) will likely find their way onto the list as well.

Lastly, HYPE Sports Winter Jam Gold Division winners, TJ Ford Super Stars (Texas), could be yet another under the radar team to monitor as the travel circuit season gets going. After suffering an opening loss to the Texas Tar Heels in pool play, the Class of 2024 squad finished their weekend with five consecutive double-digit wins.